By T. Scott Boatright
LAKE CHARLES — After leading the previous three quarters entirely, fourth-seeded Lincoln Prep lost control in the fourth Monday afternoon as Southern Lab rallied for a 51-46 win over the Panthers in semifinals action of the LHSAA Div. I Select School boys basketball playoffs inside Burton Coliseum.
Lincoln Prep had led by as many as 10 points at 25-15 with 5:31 remaining in the third quarter and still led by eight at 29-21 with 2:04 left in the stanza.
But then momentum seemed to seep away from the Panthers as the Kittens ended the quarter with a 7-0 run punctuated by a long 3-pointer by Brown that fell through the net an instant before the horn sounded, making the score 29-28 heading into the fourth quarter.
And despite having an obvious smaller bench in terms of numbers, the Kittens were still fresh heading into the fourth quarter.
That’s because after Southern Lab cut Lincoln Prep’s lead to 17-15 with 4:27 mark of the second quarter after trailing by five earlier in the stanza, when the Kittens took their next possession, they held the ball.
Lincoln Prep stayed back in a 2-3 zone and the Kittens’ point guard just held the ball … for nearly four minutes, until the game clock hit the 30 second mark, before finally dribbling to start a play.
Southern Lab didn’t score as it remained 17-15 at halftime, but taking the air out of the ball at that point seemingly set up a fast and furious finish in the fourth quarter.
And it didn’t take long into that stanza to realize that the Kittens were still riding the momentum gained by the buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter.
The Kittens earned their first tie of the contest at 33-33 with 6:10 left on the clock.
They then took their first lead of the game 25 seconds later.
By the time the Panthers scored their next basket, they were down 39-35 after Devin Burton’s layup with 4:20 left.
And they never got any closer than four points behind the Kittens the rest of the contest.
“We just didn’t execute when we needed to the most,” Hudson said. “It just got away from us. (Southern Lab) just got the momentum in the fourth quarter and turned things the other way.
“I’m proud of this team. I think we all wanted this for my seniors who went to state every year of their high school careers. We want to be back next year. I’ve got to work on finding a way to go all the way when we do.”
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